In #Belgium there is a dump site for munitions dating from WWI very close to the coast, it is monitored very closely by the authorities... however before removing them, action should be taken to estimate risks and find the appropriate technology #uxopic.twitter.com/EyWPqoI8Mq

Discussion at Colloquium on #uxo at sea now moves to #BalticSea . Approx 40k tonnes of chemical warfare materials were dumped in the #BalticSea & pose now a threat to environment, human health & economic activities as fishery and infrastructure projects at sea.pic.twitter.com/gj0VSQNzE6

We have a new report out that details what we have accomplished in the first six months of 2018. It outlines mostly CSHD’s work, but also has some updates on what RSVP has been doing. The report is now up on the Landmine Relief Fund’s website, in the Reports page, under the About Us tab.

Laos has one of the most tragic histories of any country I know. During the Vietnam War, the US dropped over two million tonnes of ordinances - more than all of World War II combined - giving it the unwanted distinction of being the most bombed country in the world. There were more than 580,000 bombing missions on Laos from 1964 to 1973. That’s equivalent to one bombing mission every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years. And they weren’t even directly involved in the war! The US were trying to cut off supplies to the Viet Cong. Of course, the US then denied this for a number of years.

30 percent (80 million tonnes) of explosives failed to detonate so, to this day, there are millions of UXOs that kill or maim at least one person daily. Approximately 25 percent of the villages are contaminated and 40 percent of casualties over the last decade were children. Children see a shiny object thinking it’s a toy until it blows up and they lose their arm. What has this world come to that seven-year-old children are taught about UXOs in schools? That a child is taught to not run around or dig deep in case they are maimed? These scraps of metal also make money when sold on the market and in a country this poor, some purposefully dig up the UXOs, risking their lives for just $2.

And yet, US citizens get a visa on arrival at the border and one has to really look to find the museums that document these atrocities. I asked the guide at the COPE Museum here why it’s so easy for US citizens to get a visa on arrival and why we are so welcomed here. His answer: Buddhism teaches us to leave the past in the past and move on with the present.